Making the Most of the SDML Conference

Before you go

Bring a good idea from home to share and a supply of business cards. If your city has promotional stickers or pins, bring a supply to share to make your hometown visible and help you make connections.

Make a plan

When you arrive, review the full program of sessions. Map out the sessions you will attend. If others from your community are attending, decide together who will go to what. Your municipality will gain the most when attendees divide and conquer. ALL MEETINGS ARE OPEN TO ALL ATTENDEES.

Orientation

If you are a first time attendee, plan on going to the “Orientation for New Attendees” session on Wednesday morning so you can learn more about the conference and the League, as well as meet other first-timers.

Attend the sessions

All sessions listed on the conference program are open to ALL conference attendees – you do not have to be a member of the affiliate group to attend their meeting.

For the Elected Officials

While you are welcome to attend any of the meetings you see in the program, the elected officials are especially invited to join the SD Finance Officers’ Association to hear about dealing with both planned events and natural disasters. The Incident Command System will be discussed, along with the significance of the local officials’ roles and responsibilities. On Thursday, Elected

Officials have their own session dealing with the local impact of methamphetamines; project management, technology, and federal postal services.

Take notes

Good session notes – complete with notations of who you want to share the information with after the conference and ideas the information generates – will be invaluable when you prepare a summary. Plan to share it with other municipal officials, citizens and appropriate staff.

Daily review

Each evening as you wind down from the day of sensory overload, review your session notes and jot down the top three discoveries. What were the most important, pertinent, useful or amazing discoveries that day? How are they significant to your municipality? Write them down. And –on a specific day in your calendar – note an idea you want to pursue.

Network

Make it a habit to introduce yourself to others around you at session and events. Have plenty of business cards to share. You can start conversations by asking questions. What part of the conference have they enjoyed most so far? How long has he/she held his/her position? What are the biggest issues the community faces? You may have common concerns to explore, or solutions that your community has developed.

Visit the exhibits

Exhibitors have a lot of experience with municipalities and are experts in their field. They can be great sources of information and solutions for municipal concerns. Exhibits are open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday and 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thursday.

Policy Committees

If you serve on a Policy Committee, those meet on Wednesday afternoon. If you are not on a policy committee, this is an excellent opportunity to sit in on one that is of interest to you. Policy Committees shape the Statement of Policy that guides the League’s legislative agenda for the coming session.

Vote

Make sure your municipality has a voting delegate at the business meeting on Friday morning so your voice is counted in the election of League board members and the adoption of the Policy Statement.

Cost/Benefit

Know what it costs your municipality to send you to the conference and be prepared to talk about the benefits your local government receives as a result. Municipal government is a lot like parenthood. It is impossible to know all about it until you are in the thick of it. There is a lot of on-the-job learning – and the SDML Conference is the single best forum for learning about municipal governance in South Dakota.

Relax

Relax and enjoy the sights and delights of Rapid City. Take time to renew yourself every evening to be refreshed the

All SDML Annual Conference information can be found at www.sdmunicipalleague.org.

next day. Return home with your notes, contacts, resources, ideas, and dreams – and the commitment to make a difference with what you have learned!

2016 Topics at a Glance

Rapid City is the place to be October 4-7 as SDML members gather for the Annual Conference.

A Sense of Place: The Value of Government

Patrick Ibarra, Co-Founder and Partner, Mejorando Group Besides its function as a democratic institution, the role of government is to be the protagonist for a better quality of life for citizens. In that pursuit, beyond the delivery of high-quality public services and programs, government also creates a sensory experience, which requires the investment of tax dollars. In this session Patrick Ibarra will provide a roadmap on transitioning the discussion from the cost or price of government and toward the value of government.

Stakeholder Communications: Being Your Best, Preparing for the Worst

Beth Noymer Levine, Founder and Principal, SmartMouth Communications Building community. Improving public spaces, roads and byways. Managing growth and/or downturn. Providing basic services. These – and so many other of the undertakings of municipal governments – are efforts that seek to do good. However, informing and persuading stakeholders can get tricky. Selling ideas or change can be fraught with peril. Even when doing good. In this session, participants will gain specific insights and tips that will help them be better, more efficient and effective communicators – under the best or worst circumstances. We’ll begin with a look at the audience experience and then dive into some tools and strategies that will give participants a fresh outlook on both their preparation and their delivery of high-stakes messages. Come to this session to gain an offensive game strategy so you don’t feel like you’re always on the defensive.

Other Sessions Include:

j The Local Impact of Methamphetamines j Project Management: On Budget, On Target, On Time j A Date With the State: Making Your Voice Heard in

Pierre j Information Technology Security on a Budget j Code Enforcement and Nuisance Abatement j The Future of Our Urban Forests j Historic Properties in SD: What You Need to Know j USPS: Supporting Customers in Rural America j Infrastructure, Obtaining Funding, Planning, and

Budgeting j Tree Care and Emerald Ash Bore j Bridge Preservation and Maintenance j And much more!

First-Time Attendees

City employees and elected officials who have not previously attended an annual conference are invited to attend the Orientation for New Attendees meeting in Rapid City on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. This is an opportunity to learn more about the South Dakota Municipal League (SDML), get a chance to meet the Municipal League staff and Board Members and get a better understanding of what the League does for the municipalities in South Dakota.

This meeting will be hosted by SDML President Meri Jo Anderson, who is also the Finance Officer in New Underwood, and other members of the SDML Board of Directors and Staff. They will review the conference agenda, share some of the success stories of the SDML and explain the purpose of the policy committees.

SDML Past President Becky Brunsing, who is also the Finance Officer in Wagner will share with you her perspective on what the League means to her, her community and the State of South Dakota as a whole. Other Board members and League staff will be introduced and have an opportunity to share some of their thoughts.

Past Orientation for New Attendees meeting goers have spoken very highly of attending this gathering and learning more about the SDML.

If this is your first conference, you are encouraged to attend this meeting. See you in Rapid City!

SDML Committees

2016 Nominating Committee

Dennis Olson, Assistant City Administrator/ Finance Officer, Brandon, Chair Al Cerny, City Administrator/ Finance Officer, Gregory Becky Brunsing, Finance Officer, Wagner

2016 Auditing Committee

Karl Alberts, Finance Officer, Aberdeen, Chair Pauline Sumption, Finance Officer, Rapid City Becky Brunsing, Finance Officer, Wagner Michelle De Neui, Assistant Finance Officer, Spearfish